​Thembisa Shologu
A pastor's kid [PK], an entrepreneur and a passionate man of integrity, Thami Mazi (46) ranks community building on top.
Born in the dusty streets of Bophelong in the Vaal, Thami experienced the full township life where he wanted to thrive in a place that swallows up dreams.
Raised by a mom who was a teacher, he went on to enrol for a BCom degree at the North-West University in 1999.  
Thami says varsity was not easy especially in the first year where he was told he would never run a successful business.
"I think this made me more determined. After varsity, I started trading on the street supplying cold meat products."
Desperate to succeed, Thami went on to take a R5000 loan from a local doctor to establish his first retail outlet in 2000.
"We named it Ola Super Stores because we knew that we wanted to run multiple stores." 
Three years later, in 2003, he managed to grow the business into three outlets with an annual turnover of more than R10 million, employing 26 people permanently. 
With a flourishing business, Thami suffered a blow in 2005 when he lost his wife and daughter in a car crash.
"I suffered severe depression in 2008 and 2009. I lost everything, I was bankrupt," he said.  
As they say, "a man can fall this morning and get up again tomorrow", Thami returned in the SMME sector in 2010 with the help of family members. 
Through the Gauteng Enterprise Propeller (GEP) fund, in 2013, he received a R250 000 loan to open a Chisanyama which later bagged him the Global Business
Roundtable Award for Leadership Excellence. 
In 2016 he won the Inaugural Township Awards on the Retail and finance category organized by the Department of Economic Development.  
More awards, including the Township Entrepreneur Award from the Gauteng Department of Labour and Khanyisa service excellence from the Gauteng Department of Health and Social Development, followed.
Eager to expand, Thami, transformed three of their stores into full-service Pick n Pay Market Store.
"My greatest inspiration is seeing black brothers and sisters rising from the dusty streets of townships and villages and building successful businesses that impact and benefit the communities they operate from," he said.
With all the experience, Thami is well aware of the challenges faced by township businesses, especially the lack of tailor-made funding.
"Limited involvement of government in township retail and thirdly, a deliberate policy intervention that seeks to transform, to empower local township retailers for them to establish a black-owned retail company," concluded Manzi.